Hi,

I recently sent this (archived) message to netbsd-users:  
http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2005/02/09/0001.html

Summary: 1.6.2_stable from 12Jun04 has tried to disable a feature on my  
onboard Intel NIC (without any form of prompt or warning) and made the NIC  
effectively useless.

Maybe I sent to the wrong list?
I have not received any response or been able to work out how to fix the  
broken EEPROM. So far Intel has not provided me with anything useful  
either.

In my case I will probably have to buy an extra card and cover the onboard  
NIC.

My concern is, that if this problem can be caused by the released version  
of NetBSD 2.0 (I am certainly not willing to try and see on another  
board!) - then many more Notebooks, Servers and Workstations with current  
Intel boards are going to be broken in the future.
Most manufacturers limit their support to Windows and may be reluctant to  
fix this problem under warranty.

Assuming 2.0 may be broken, a patch that fixes in NetBSD-CURRENT would be  
fine but I can hardly recommend to anyone that they might like to try  
NetBSD. Chances are they will download the latest ISO or purchase a CD  
even (which I would encourage as it contributes to the NetBSD funding) BUT  
they could very easily end up with a stuffed NIC.

It is acceptable for an OS to just, not work very well on some hardware,  
but this is the only case I have ever come across where the hardware is  
'damaged'.

I know it is unlikely that a new binary release would be made available on  
this issue alone but maybe a more prominent warning could be made.
With some help from the right person at Intel a utility to fix the card  
would be even better.

I am not sure where to start but am prepared to experiment with a few  
options or ideas - I can't make it any worse :-)

Thanks,
Daniel.